After more than a decade of making Spider-Man movies on its own, Sony Pictures allied with Marvel Studios in 2015 to bring the Web-Slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Tom Holland's iteration of the hero has since appeared twice, with at least three more appearances on the way. But Sony isn't done playing around with the Spider-Man mythology on its own, as it's crafting a separate franchise with movies like Venom and Silver & Black. Now there's word that a third movie is in development that's centered on longtime Spidey baddie (and occasional Blade opponent) Morbius the Living Vampire.
Power Rangers movie writers Buck Sharpless and Matt Sazama have reportedly submitted a script to Sony for a movie simply titled Morbius. THR didn't provided any other details about this Morbius the Living Vampire project, but like Venom, it's likely that Morbius' rise will occur without any involvement from Spider-Man. However, Sony is still keeping silent on if this Spidey-centric franchise is truly separate from the MCU or if it will have some ties to that world. Sharpness and Sazama's other credits include Dracula Untold and Gods of Egypt, and they are also working on the upcoming Lost in Space reboot on Netflix.
Introduced in 1971's The Amazing Spider-Man #101, Michael Morbius was a originally a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who wanted to cure his blood condition using a treatment that involved vampire bats. However, the experiment turned Michael into a vampiric creature, granting him special abilities like super strength, flight and a healing factor, but also requiring him to drink blood to survive and avoid sunlight. It's also worth mentioning that Morbius doesn't have all the traditional weaknesses a regular vampire has, so one can't defeat him using garlic, a crucifix or any of the other classic "tools." Although he's primarily depicted as one of Spider-Man's adversaries, Morbius has occasionally worked with the Wall-Crawler for the greater good, and he's even led a few of his own comic book series.
Outside of the comics, Morbius the Living Vampire has appeared in projects like Spider-Man: The Animated Series (albeit a heavily censored version), Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Six and the Spider-Man 3 video game. Morbius also indirectly appeared in the alternate ending for Blade, but plans to feature him as Blade II's main antagonist were scrapped. That means Sony's Morbius would mark his live action debut, and although he's closely tied with Spider-Man in the comics, it's certainly doable to craft a compelling origin story without him crossing paths with the Webbed Wonder. It's also another great opportunity to give moviegoers a horror-themed superhero movie, like Venom and Fox's New Mutants will be.
Keep checking in with CinemaBlend for more news about this Morbius The Living Vampire movie. In the meantime, Sony's Spiderverse franchise will begin when Venom is released on October 5, 2018.
